Polyphemus moth


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	Polyphemus moth What do you do if you find a moth, want to identify it, but have no idea where to start? Bug Guide's moth silhouette page is a great place to begin since it will help you narrow down your choices to a family or group of families. If your moth has a chunky body surrounded by huge wings, chances are it's a member of the Giant Silkworm and Royal Moth family (Saturniidae). The luna moth is the best known species in this family, but the moth I found perching on my dwarf Meyer lemon tree is nearly as common. The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polypheumus) is a brown moth with paired wings up to six inches across. Each wing sports a clear eyespot --- notice how you can see right through the "windows" in this closeup. I took this last photo as eye candy because I loved the fuzziness of the moth's stout body compared to the feathery antennae. But the photo turned out to be useful in identification, proving that my moth is a female. Although her antennae seem large to me, they aren't nearly as large as the antennae that the males use to "sniff" out the pheremones of female moths. My moth clung to the leaf all afternoon, but the next day she was gone, presumably flown away in search of a mate or a site to lay her eggs. Adult Polyphemus Moths neither eat nor drink and survive for only about four days, so I figure I was lucky to catch a glimpse of her windowed wings. Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed. RSS comment 1 These photos are something! Comment by Maggie — Sat Jul 10 06:45:32 2010 Remove comment comment 2 What great photos! My summercamp kids found a dead moth just like this on our playground this moning. We were able to identify it using your pictures. This particular group of children have been finding all kinds of dead "critters" for us to identify. We have been very busy with our ever growing bug collection. Comment by Karen — Mon Jul 25 11:56:37 2011 Remove comment Dead moth I'm glad I could help! You've gotta love any kids who collect dead bugs. Comment by anna — Wed Jul 27 16:45:20 2011 Remove comment Add a comment